THE BODINE PLAN 


as applied to the 

Financial Campaigns 
Philadelphia Boy Scouts of America 


Copyright 1920 

By GEORGE I. BODINE. JR. 










THE BODINE PLAN 


as applied to the 

Financial Campaigns 
Philadelphia Boy Scouts of America 


The Problems 

(a) The vast size of the Philadelphia public—the stupendous 
number of the people that admire Boy Scouts and honestly 
desire to support them—how can we ever reach these 
people? Heretofore we have not reached them. 

In the National Financial and Membership Campaign, under 
Wm. G. McAdoo, the newspaper publicity was superb— 
the field was ripe for a splendid harvest, but we did not 
reach the people—partly because we have never had the 
plan by which they could be reached. The Liberty Loan 
Campaign came nearest to a situation in which the Boy 
Scouts have added to size of subscription in dollars the vital 
additional factor of large number of subscriptions. 

(b) The charm of a campaign is the Scout himself. Nobody 
can resist him. His reputation is based on hard work, ser¬ 
vice and high ideals. And yet, we have never been able to 
use the Scout to help himself because a Scout should never 
solicit cash on the street. We have, therefore, so far as the 
boy is concerned, found ourselves at the end of a blind alley. 
To use the Scout to his maximum capacity in a Scout Finan¬ 
cial Campaign is another vital problem. How can we solve 
both these problems—to reach the people and to use the 
Scout to do it? 

The solution—It can be done 

(a) The Plan that reaches a million people must be no two by 
four plan. It must be a great comprehensive plan. 


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(b) The plan that uses the maximum capacity of the Boy Scout 
must raise him from the station of a mere messenger boy to 
the position of the key man of the campaign where the public 
will see him at work as a business manager. First, they 
will be amazed at our confidence in him; second, they will 
admire him and last of all, they will root for him. 

And when you get a million people rooting for eight 
thousand boys you will get action. 

Explanation 

How are we to reach one million people in Philadelphia? 
In the Liberty Loans it was estimated that each Scout could 
average to reach ten (10) customers. 

If a boy can see 10 people, surely an adult can see 25. 
Therefore, divide 1,000,000 by 25. 

1,000,000 ; 25 ——• 40,000. 

It will take 40,000 men to reach 1,000,000. 

Where are we to get 40,000 men? 

The 8,000 Scouts are, under this plan, the business managers. 
Let them get the men. How many men will each boy have 
to secure? Divide 40,000 by 8,000 
40,000 -r- 8,000 = 5. 

How can so much be accomplished by teams, each of which 
is composed of only one Scout as Captain and only five men 
on the team? The Slogan of the campaign answers the 
question. 

Slogan 

Many hands make light work. 

Essential Factors 

(a) Secrecy—The Plan must be explained gradually to all 
Scouts, but kept dark until December, when it is to be 
suddenly sprung on the public. 

(b) Time—“Be Prepared.” We have ten months in which to 
prepare for a December Campaign. 

First, the plan should be thoroughly threshed out at Phila¬ 
delphia Headquarters so as to familiarize the central staff 
with every detail and also so that the plan in its final shape 
shall emanate, as all orders should, from Headquarters. 


Second, the Field Executives should be then called into con¬ 
ference; these conferences being similar to those held by 
the Field Executives, months prior to the Victory Loan. 
Third, the next step is to arouse a tremendous enthusiasm 
among all Scoutmasters and Scouts. 

This can be best accomplished by a meeting at the Academy 
of Music, with a good band, district yells, and vaudeville, 
with the plan explained by lantern slides, with an aluminum 
sheet and the best lantern operators and printed slides— 
large type that can be read all over the house. 

The Scouts should then immediately secure the 5 men 
apiece for their teams; a high award being offered to the 
tr<$op in each District that first completes its teams. 

Next, they should follow a meeting in the largest hall in 
each District, with all Scouts of that District present with 
the men on their teams. Here again enthusiasm must be 
keyed to the highest pitch, slides again being thrown on the 
screen so that the men can see what a colossal thing the 
Scout Movement is. In place of vaudeville, Demonstration 
Troops should burn into the hearts of all present the “worth 
while” of Scouting. Each Scout should then follow up the 
meeting by calling personally on his team men with a 
packet for each containing instructions and application 
blanks and a list of the 25 people to be visited by each man. 

Application Blanks 

The face of the blank should be exactly like the one used by 
the Philadelphia Council. 

The back of the blank should read thus: 

Sample Blank 

This subscription was obtained 
by John Smith 

Name of Adult Team member 
for the Black Bear Team 
of Troop 301 

Managed by 

Scout John Doe, 

Captain. 







Scout’s Job 

Each evening the Scout should call on his five team men, 
egging them on and telling them that the Black Bear Team, 
for example, lacks just five subscriptions of beating out the 
Eagle Team of his Troop. “Mr. Jones, next door, is on that 
Eagle Team. Beat him to it.” They should keep the com¬ 
petition among the men at white heat. 

Quotas 

It is evident that each team’s quota is 5 times 25 = 125 
subscribers. 

Returns 

Completed subscriptions should be mailed or delivered to 
Central Campaign Headquarters, and there recorded and the 
status of the troops mailed daily to the Scoutmasters. 

Awards 

Team, Troop and District Awards. Competition for simple 
awards should be the life of the party. The best Team in 
each Troop should win for the Scout Captain, a Scout axe; 
the best Troop in each District, a cup; the best District, a 
banner; the best Team in the city, a trip to Treasure Island 
for all the men on it, etc. 

Publicity 

The editors of all newspapers should be given, far in ad¬ 
vance, the best dinner they ever ate, because they have in 
the past treated the Scout Movement to the best they have 
had to offer in space and editorials. Of course, also, we 
would not object to their keeping up the good work. If they 
care to do so, all the facts will be explained at their big 
dinner. 

Possibilities 

(a) Suddenly, in December, like a bolt out of the blue the 
Philadelphia public will be hit fore and aft by a cyclone 
with all the charm of the Boy Scout as honest Indian mana¬ 
ger of the storm. 


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(b) If, on the first day, called Worker’s Day, the Team were to 
average to give $10.00 per head, we should net 40,000 times 
10 which equals $400,000. 

(c) The Scout is no longer a work horse for the public. It is the 
public’s turn to work for the Scout, who is now manager and 
king bee. 

(d) The Scout takes no money. 

(e) The Scout learns in practice how to manage men. He sees 
in practice that the man who quits pulls down the team. 

He learns that business success for any enterprise is based 
upon co-operation. 

When he gets his first job as an adult, he will be more apt to 
co-operate with his fellow-workers and his superior, because 
as a boy, he once held the superior job. He looks at life, 
therefore, from a new angle—not to get out of work, but to 
be a good sport and produce so that the business team will 
win. 

(f) The Scout Movement will have mobilized forty thousand of 
its constituents with untold future benefits. 


(g) The public will see that when the Scouts go at a thing, 
“Gosh, all hemlock, what a system!” 

Finale 

We all know that money, and lots of it, will help Scouting. 
Why shouldn’t Scouting be as rich as Girard College and 
copper roofed for the next three years? 

We are all up against the job of raising the money. Well, 
then, instead of going at it in a half baked fashion, why not 
organize a worth while system, so that the burden will be 
lightened for us all? 


MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK. 








